PUYALLUP, Wash. -- While walking through the strawberry research plots east of Puyallup, Sue Welch came upon an oddly shaped specimen.

As plant services specialist for the Washington State Department of Agriculture, she had seen many fruits and vegetables, but this one was new to her.

A bite revealed it to be a tasty strawberry, but Patrick Moore, a small fruit breeder and geneticist for Washington State University Extension, who chooses which cultivars to pursue, told her, "We'll throw that one away."

"But this could be a specialty berry," she said. "People are always looking for new things."

Horticulturist Wendy Hoashi-Erhardt suggested a name for the bizarre fruit: "Frankenberry."